Archives for November 2012

We have been helping a friend set up her website, [www.alternativelivingreiki.com]. As of yet, our progress isn’t astounding, but we have been doing things little by little as we are in Northwestern Kansas for the Thanksgiving holiday. One of those things is taking good pictures that underline what Nichole at Alternative Living Reiki does. Reiki is an intensely natural treatment in which one’s energy fields are engaged to trigger healing and rejuvenation. To emphasize the nature aspect, Nichole and I traveled to a nearby lake to take pictures. Of course, we had to include a picture of yours truly getting a reiki treatment later, too!

I proceeded to take pictures with a Fujifilm Finepix, which didn’t seem to be the best camera — but admittedly I don’t know much about cameras. It was certainly a welcome alternative to Instagram, though, so I kept shooting. I was hoping my somewhat tedious acquaintance with modifying photos using Photoshop would pull me through on this one. So, after we got done, I came home, plugged the memory card in to my computer, and browsed Pinterest for Photoshop tutorials.

A tutorial titled How I Edit ALL of My Pictures by Jessica Drew Photography is one of my favorites. It’s a tutorial that has encouraged me to play with the curves tool … a tool that I previously was too frightened to touch with a ten foot pole. Turns out moderation is key with that one. I also love using the dodge tool on the eyes. Brilliant.

After reading through Ms. Drew’s tutorial, I had a couple of (what I consider) successful goes with Photoshop. Granted, the photos don’t look like a professional did them, but I’ve never credited myself as a photographer anyway. Without further ado, I present to you the before and after photos of Nichole:

I know, I know. I’ve been remiss in posting about how to make a custom envelope! But I’ve been busy, I promise. On Saturday, we made our way across the great void that is eastern Colorado to end up in western Kansas, where we will remain until after Thanksgiving. Honestly, I love being in my hometown of Colby, Kansas because it’s so slow and quiet. You can do everything at your own pace, enjoy life, and never leave the house.

Last night and this morning, I was drawing like a fool. I wanted to come up with a good advertisement for 435 South magazine — they’re promoting their Tasty Tuesday deal, which is a $4.35 meal at a featured restaurant every Tuesday. I wanted to channel the idea of eating with a friendly (and attractive) coworker, so to Facebook I flocked.

For about two years now, my friend Marina has been asking me to draw a picture of her. I did draw one around this time last year, but it didn’t look much like her. I think often the problem with drawing people is you draw what you want to see, and not what’s actually there. This time I tried to be disciplined and draw exactly what I was looking at. I chose a picture of Marina about to dig in to some ice cream (which I turned into a salad), and began an intense session with my pencils. Ultimately, I ended up with this:

This weekend, I had the pleasure of working with Heather at Books for Breakfast. She reached out to me about designing a blog and Etsy banner for her, along with Etsy and Facebook buttons. I was so excited to start on Heather’s materials because her business name opens the door for so many neat artistic possibilities!

I thought my work with Heather would be a good way to outline the custom design process. Initially, she had the idea of depicting an open book with letters spilling out of it. I ran with this concept, ultimately coming up with this design:

Then, thinking that this may be a little too plain, I ran with the “books for breakfast” concept, combining an egg and a book:Continue reading…

I am crazy about handmade envelopes, and I am going to try to post a tutorial tomorrow because I think a lot more people should be making them! They’re sinfully simple to construct, and they look incredible in the mail. Just make sure you glue a solid-colored piece of paper on the front so you can properly write your recipient’s address!Continue reading…

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YOU + A BRUSH PEN = GORGEOUS LETTERING

Learn brush pen calligraphy from scratch with the new Kaitlin Style Calligraphy worksheets + videos. Kaitlin Style is a whimsical, artistic way of lettering that's perfect for making word art, decorated envelopes, and signs!